Kirthana Sukumaran, M.S.

Project Specialist
Kirthana graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a Master of Science in Applied Cognition and Neuroscience. She works on studies involving the ABCD dataset to analyze effects of environment such as air pollution exposure on brain diffusion outcomes and mental health. She assists with creation, quality control and analysis of cognitive and neuroimaging data.

Alethea De Jesus, B.S.

Project Assistant
Alethea graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.S. in Neuroscience and minor in The Dynamics of Early Childhood in May 2023. Currently, she works on analyses with the ABCD Study dataset to investigate the effects of the environment – such as air pollution exposure and neighborhood disadvantage – on adolescent brain development and brain outcomes.

Hedyeh Ahmadi, Ph.D.

Biostatistician
Hedyeh Ahmadi earned her postdoc from University of California, Irvine in 2021 and Ph.D. in Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistics from Columbia University in 2019. She completed her M.S. in Statistics at University of California, Irvine in 2016. Her research focuses on applying and testing of methods for analyzing repeated measure/longitudinal growth models in the context of Neuroscience, Salivary Bioscience, Psychology, and Education. In addition to exploring new methods, Hedyeh teaches advanced statistical methods to researchers via intensive training workshops. More broadly, she is interested in the use of regression models – particularly in the areas of meta-analysis and with censored salivary data.

Michael Rosario, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow
Michael Rosario is an NIH F99/K00 DSPAN Fellow who earned his PhD in Neuroscience from Boston University in 2023. Using the ABCD Study dataset, his research investigates how socioenvironmental factors facilitate or impede access to brain health, with a particular focus in understanding how air pollution, socioenvironmental factors, and social positioning interact to contribute to neurodevelopment.

Carlos Cardenas-Iniguez, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow
Carlos Cardenas-Iniguez (pronouns he/him/his) earned his PhD in Psychology and Integrative Neuroscience from the University of Chicago in 2019. His research focuses on using the ABCD Study dataset to expose the impact of social stratification on the environments in which people live, and how these environments, in turn, impact neural and cognitive development and mental health. His research interests also include the implementation of spatial analysis, critical race theory, and anti-racism principles in neuroscience/psychology research.

Katherine Bottenhorn, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Fellow
Katherine Bottenhorn (she/her) earned her PhD in Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience from Florida International University in 2021. Her research leverages the ABCD Study dataset to explore how environmental and lifestyle variables are associated with individual differences in functional brain connectivity, cognition, and behavioral outcomes in children and adolescents. Her research interests additionally include uncovering just how much our brains change over the course of everyday life, with a focus on reproductive health and women's health.

Jared Schachner, Ph.D.

Research Scientist
Jared is currently a Research Scientist at the USC Sol Price of Public Policy and an affiliated researcher with the Herting Lab, UChicago Consortium on School Research, Los Angeles Education Research Institute, and Homelessness Policy Research Institute. Before USC, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in Sociology & Social Policy at Harvard University. His research examines whether and how neighborhoods and schools mediate the intergenerational transmission of skills, health, and status. 

Recent work has been published in Annual Review of Sociology, Demography, Social Forces, Child Development, Journal of Health & Social Behavior, American Educational Research Journal, Urban Affairs Review, Housing Policy Debate, and RSF: Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences. Funders include the National Science Foundation, the National Alliance to End Homelessness, and the Hilton Foundation.

Claire Campbell, B.S.

Graduate Student
Claire is a Ph.D. candidate and NIH F31 Research Training Fellow within the Neuroscience Graduate Program. She utilizes the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study to examine the effect of gene-by-environment interactions on functional and structural brain development and the onset of depression during adolescence. 

Devyn Cotter, M.S.

Graduate Student
Devyn received her Bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience Psychology/Biology from Saint Mary’s College of California, and her Master’s degree in Neuroscience and Translational Medicine from Queen Mary, University of London. She is currently a PhD student at USC in the Neuroscience Graduate Program. Her research interests include employing multimodal neuroimaging techniques to better understand the effects of stress on emotional development and associated brain outcomes in adolescence.

Jessica Morrel, B.A. 

Graduate Student
Jessica graduated from UVA in 2021 where she studied psychology and mathematics. Following graduation, Jessica served as a research assistant within the Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Center for Autism and Related Disorders. Currently, she is a first-year Ph.D. student within USC’s Neuroscience Graduate Program and is interested in exploring how genetic and environmental factors interact to increase risk for and promote resilience against maladaptive neurodevelopmental trajectories.

Nate Overholtzer, M.S.

Graduate Student
Nate is a fourth-year MD-PhD student at the University of Southern California (USC) Keck School of Medicine. Currently in the second year of his Neuroscience Graduate Program PhD, his research is primarily centered on examining the impact of ADHD medication usage on the development of the adolescent brain, within the context of the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. Nate also completed his undergraduate studies at USC in 2019, earning a Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and a Master of Science in Global Medicine.

Carinna Torgerson, B.A.

Graduate Student
Carinna Torgerson graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a BA in Psychology and is currently a PhD candidate in the USC Neuroscience Graduate Program. Her research focuses on the measurement of sex and gender as well as their influence on neurodevelopment and perivascular space.

Jo Corbett, B.A.

Postbaccalaureate Volunteer
Jo graduated from the University of Southern California, receiving their B.A. in Psychology in 2023. They currently volunteer in the lab as a research assistant working with Dr. Bottenhorn and other lab members to assess adolescent brain development by utilizing the ABCD dataset. Jo is also interested in researching the effects that early life stress may have on the development of executive functioning and functional connectivity.

Jade Li

Undergraduate Volunteer
Jade is a pre-medical undergraduate student at the University of Southern California, expecting to receive a B.S. in Neuroscience by 2025. They currently volunteer as a research assistant, collaborating with Devyn Cotter and other lab colleagues to further evaluate adolescent brain development, structures, and outcomes through the ABCD dataset. Jade's research interests also involve the exploration of how environment and development influence mental health outcomes.

Yara Akiel

Undergraduate Volunteer

Alumni

Isabel Buri

USC URAP Student

Dora Cserbik

Project Specialist

Raymond Jackson

MPH Practicum & Capstone Student

Sandhya Chakravartti

Graduate Student

Robert Kim

Volunteer

Miguel Jaime

USC URAP Student

Xiaofang Chu

Volunteer

Mengyi Li

MPH Practicum & Capstone Student

Dania Ruiz

Volunteer

Samah Alothman

MPH Practicum & Capstone Student

Michelle Canales

Research Coordinator

Adam Mehzer

NGP Student

Cory Johnson

MPH Practicum & Capstone Student

Adam Omary

Masters in Biostatistics Student

Noor Khalifeh

Undergraduate Volunteer
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